Cities taking brunt of cuts to program that helps keep sex offenders in check

Joe (not his real name) is a sex offender who received support from COSA - Circles of Support and Accountability — after his release from prison. COSA is trying to find new funding to keep its programs going.Ed Kaiser / Postmedia

Federal funding cuts mean cities such as Edmonton are financially responsible for treatment of known sex offenders living in the community.

“Knowing that our police service is already running as fast as it can to keep up with calls for service, it is an absolute abdication of their responsibility to cities and towns across Canada that they aren’t offering more financial support, perhaps for units in the police services that monitor, keep track of and maybe even sort of help establish Circles of Support,” said Edmonton city Coun. Scott McKeen.

McKeen was responding to a question about federal funding for Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA), a group of volunteers who give their time to re-integrate sex offenders once they are released from prison.

At one point, the group was getting federal funding for their individual chapters across the country. But that came to an end when the former Conservative government decided to cut the budget completely. Now, groups are hanging on to their existing circles — support groups for their sex offender members — through the effort of volunteers. But they’re unable to expand to keep up with new potential members leaving prison.

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Talks with COSA at a federal level have been revived though no specific details are being given about what they might lead to.

“The government is working with COSA to determine how we can best support this successful reintegration program,” said an email from Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Ralph Goodale.

“More broadly, the government is conducting a review of the changes made to our criminal justice system and sentencing reforms over the past decade,” wrote Goodale, “to assess them, ensure that we are increasing the safety of our communities, getting value for money, addressing gaps and ensuring that current provisions are aligned with the objectives of the criminal justice system.”

When asked whether statistics on high-risk offenders leaving prison are available, both Corrections Canada and the federal Parole Board said they don’t keep track of people released because once they leave prison, they are no longer under federal jurisdiction.

“How convenient for any order of government to say, ‘Oh, no, it’s not in our jurisdiction any more,’” said McKeen, whose ward includes downtown.

He said local police need funding to help groups like COSA function. But the lack of funding is a symptom of the broader issue of short-sighted policies not addressing mental health needs in cities.

“Edmonton needs more funding from the feds to ensure that we have the right amount of police resources to keep track of these folks. I think Circles of Support are a critical component of this. Then I think we need enough mental health services so that when these guys get out and they’re amenable to it, they get the treatment.”

The solution, he said, is almost too simple.

“I don’t know why you would not want to have community volunteers watching and, yes, ensuring that these people are able to perhaps get work, get a place to live,” McKeen said. “What we know is if these people get into stress — unemployment, being pushed from community to community, that sort of thing — they’re more likely to go underground and reoffend. I know it seems sort of odious and goes against everything we hold dear. But thank God for these volunteers that they’re doing this hard, hard work of ensuring ultimately that you can create the conditions that a pedophile doesn’t reoffend.”

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